Joe's Farming

Although the locust plague occurred, Ueda Village survived it safely.

But the weather was still good and not a drop of rain fell for two consecutive months.

Qiao Yu and his family used to take a bath every day.

In order to save water now, I can only wipe it with hot water every day, and use the used water for watering when it cools down.

All the water used for washing clothes and vegetables is collected and used for watering.

The mountain spring at home is almost dry, but fortunately, although the water level in the well has dropped, water is still flowing out every day.

Every time I pass by the village entrance, I can see villagers queuing up to fetch water.

The rice in the village is still able to survive because of the canals and reservoirs dug earlier.

Everyone in the village hopes that the rice will bear ears soon, otherwise when the canal dries up and the reservoir is empty, all the crops grown this year will have been in vain.

Qiao Yu's family's rice field is by the river, so the rice grows better than those of other families.

But there is no water in the rice fields anymore.

The water in the creek is almost dry.

The cracked riverbed is exposed.

Qiao Yu looked at the dried cicadas and small fish with heartache.

No wonder humans in ancient times would do anything to pray for rain.

He now also hopes that there is some magic that can make it rain from the sky.

They were in such a situation in Shangtian Village, he didn't even dare to imagine what it was like outside.

-

The King of Qi went south, deliberately disguising himself as an ordinary merchant.

Only Suifeng was left by his side, and the rest of the secret guards protected him secretly.

The ones I picked were all small paths.

On the way, I saw villages with cracked soil and people with sad faces more than once.

The King of Qi is young.

He would take out the silver bills in his purse and give them away.

Stopped by the wind.

"Sir, don't show off your wealth during this special period. If you give a banknote to one person, others will come up to ask for it, which will cause a scramble and be dangerous. I will buy some food to give to them later."

The King of Qi nodded and gave him all the banknotes in his hand.

"I was negligent."

Suifeng accepted them all, but he was not stupid enough to use them all.

After quietly finishing their work, the master and servant set off again.

Perhaps it was because there was still food stored at home, although the number of beggars he met on the road increased, he did not encounter any vagrants or bandits.

A month later, the carriage finally entered the territory of Taoyuan.

As soon as he arrived at Taoyuan, the King of Qi found that there were fewer beggars.

Although the world is dry, some crops are still growing.

The King of Qi stopped to talk with the farmers.

I learned that the crops planted in the fields were drought-resistant, and that there were reservoirs in the village. Although they were almost dry now, there were still several wells that could be used.

"How did you know to dig wells and store water in advance?"

The King of Qi wondered.

The villager grinned, revealing his missing two front teeth. "Of course it was Lord Xie's order. Last winter it was also Lord Xie's order that saved us from the snowstorm. I heard it was the suggestion of Mr. Qiao from the snack bar."

Boss Joe?

This was the first time the King of Qi heard of this person.

After all, it was already good enough to mention Xie Changyu in the memorial. Who would go to the emperor and specifically talk about a businessman?

The King of Qi asked out of curiosity.

The villager laughed and said, "Boss Qiao is really amazing.

He was originally a farmer in the village like us, and then he started from scratch and opened a snack bar in the town.

The food they sell is so delicious.

Sir, look at the beans over there, they are called dragon claw beans, which were discovered by Boss Qiao this year. He said they are very drought-resistant.

It was planted just last month, and it's already this tall. Boss Qiao is really a lucky star for our Taoyuan."

King Qi instantly became more interested in Boss Qiao.

"Wasn't he the one who discovered the potatoes?"

The King of Qi asked on a whim.

Unexpectedly, the villager nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes, yes. Sir, how did you know?"

The King of Qi smiled and said, "I guessed."

-

The snack bar is still doing booming business recently, but the profit is only one-third of what it used to be.

Because the store has recently launched affordable packages with high cost-effectiveness.

Coarse grain steamed buns, wowotou, multi-grain rice and sweet potato porridge have replaced refined rice as the staple food.

The expensive meat set meals have been reduced and replaced with large and filling cold vegetarian dishes.

The weather is hot, and people don’t want to eat greasy food.

In addition, the restaurant has installed artificial fans. The most feared thing about eating in summer is heat, and it is comfortable to have wind blowing, so diners still come in an endless stream.

When the King of Qi arrived, he saw a busy snack bar.

Although the store was ordinary, the food the diners saw was something he had never seen before.

Such a magical shop is hidden in Dayan? !

The King of Qi immediately got out of the car and walked towards the snack bar.

Hong Ge'er had sharp eyes and immediately realized that this guest looked very noble and was not an ordinary person.

He quickly stepped forward and saluted: "What would you like to eat, sir?"

The King of Qi smelled the smell in the store and pointed at the braised meat on the chopping board: "One portion of this."

He glanced at the casserole in front of the diner next to him and said, "And this."

He glanced at the vegetarian salad in front of the other diners and said, "I want one of these, too."

Hong Geer smiled and said, "Okay, please sit for a while, the food will be here soon."

Suifeng stopped him: "There is no room left."

Hong Geer pointed to the window with a smile: "Aren't there two empty seats over there?"

Although the guest seemed to be of very high status.

But everyone is equal in front of delicious food!

Suifeng's face didn't look very good. There were already four people sitting at that table.

The King of Qi, on the other hand, said indifferently, "Just go sit there."

Lu Feng saw Sui Feng's dissatisfaction and stepped forward to add: "There are seats on the second floor, but there are no fans, so it might be a bit hot."

King Qi glanced at the fan above his head, his eyes showing appreciation, and smiled, "No, let me feel the fan."

There were fans of this kind in the palace, but this was the first time he had seen one among the common people.

This Boss Joe is quite interesting.

The dishes were served quickly.

Suifeng took out a silver needle and tested the poison before pushing it in front of King Qi.

When Hong Ge'er and Lu Feng saw this, they were speechless.

His family runs a restaurant. If the food is poisonous, should he continue the business or not?

King Qi did not notice Hongger and Lufeng's emotions.

Because he couldn't wait to pick up his chopsticks.

He picked up a piece of braised meat first.

It was different from the braised meat he had eaten in the palace in the capital, which had a sauce flavor.

What he ate was the spicy and oily dish specially made by Qiao Ge'er.

With Qiao Yu's promotion, Sichuan pepper has become a very popular seasoning in Taoyuan, but it is apparently not yet popular in Beijing.

The King of Qi's tongue felt numb for a moment.

"Well--"

Suifeng immediately asked nervously: "Sir, what's wrong?"

The King of Qi took a sip of the basil drink that came with the meal and savored it: "Delicious! Very strong!"

Then I took another bite of the casserole rice noodles.

“So fresh!”

Finally, I ate a piece of cold-boiled dragon claw beans.

"Suifeng, if I buy the chef of this restaurant, will their boss agree?"